Scattershot Scribblers

Apologies for the sheer negligence Jeff and I have shown this blog...not sure what Jeff's excuse is, but I've been knee deep in preparing to quit my job again, the discovery that I'm going to be a Dad (oh, the horror! Can we say rat traps and Tabasco sauce?), epic road trips (another day, another blog), and one absolutely hellish apartment search, which, as any Portlander knows, is in itself a full-time job...

So I've got a stack of things to chatter my phalanges on. A brief sampling:

• The Blazers just lost to the Celtics, 90-100. I know, big gigantic stupendous surprise. Roy, however, demonstrated yet again that he can hang with the likes of Allen, Pierce, and Garnett...the dude's that good.


• Portland has to be about the only city in the universe to do such a thing, but throughout this week our very own City Hall is setting up shop at our lowest-performing public school, Jefferson High. Publicity stunt? A way to shine a spotlight on the failings of a campus that is constantly bombarded with the lowest common denominator staff and the most draconian policy decisions (the only school in the city-wide district that requires name badges and has split male/female academies with uniforms, and is also, coincidentally I'm sure, largly comprised of minorities)? Too soon to tell...but make sure you keep your ears open for Mayor Tom "Mr. Irrelevant" Potter's State of the City address this Friday. It's sure to be excitsnnnnooooooorrrre.


• On an absolute serious tip, this has to be one of the more interesting social experiments I've heard of in years. I'll just quote the text from the Portland Tribune: 'The city of Portland has donated land for the proposed housing subdivision [foster-home project Portland Hope Meadows], which will be built pro bono by Legend Homes. Families who live there will adopt three to four foster children, receive free housing, and one parent per household will be given a small salary and health insurance. Senior citizens in the development will volunteer as "granparents" for the community and be given below-market rent for their housing.' I'm speechless. Talk about passing feel good warm fucking fuzzies all around...unfortunately, the pessimist-cynic in me thinks that once the development is completed, it will be available exclusively to upper-crust Yupsters at prices 300% above the current market rate, and will feature rooftop altars on which to slaughter poor children and the homeless. Bummer, foster-dude.


• In the wake of the 4th Ave./Chavez Blvd./Interstate Ave. street renaming debacle, a group of cats are trying to get 42nd Avenue changed to Douglas Adams Blvd. Yeah, that's the guy who wrote those awesomely dorky sci-fi books. Anyway, the campaign website is here, just in case you'd like to drop them a bit of support for the cause. You have to love this town...